In the context of parliamentary committees in India, which is the largest standing committee of the Parliament of India in terms of number of members?

Introduction / Context:

This question is about the system of parliamentary committees in India, which support the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in examining bills, finances and policies in detail. Among these committees, some have more members than others, and the question asks you to identify which one is the largest in terms of membership strength. Knowing the size and role of the main financial committees is a standard requirement in Indian polity and public administration for competitive exams.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The question is limited to committees of the Parliament of India.
• The focus is on size, that is, the number of members in the committee.
• The options list important financial and procedural committees of the Lok Sabha.
• It is understood that the membership referred to is the typical sanctioned strength under current rules.

Concept / Approach:

The three key financial committees of Parliament are the Public Accounts Committee, the Estimates Committee and the Committee on Public Undertakings. Among these, the Estimates Committee has the largest membership. Traditionally, the Estimates Committee has thirty members from the Lok Sabha, whereas the Public Accounts Committee and the Committee on Public Undertakings have fewer members. Other committees like the Business Advisory Committee or the Committee on Petitions also have smaller strengths. Therefore, the correct way to answer is to recall which committee is associated with the figure of thirty members.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:

You can verify this by consulting a standard Indian polity textbook or the official Lok Sabha website, which lists the sanctioned strength of different committees. You will see that the Estimates Committee has thirty members drawn only from the Lok Sabha, while the Public Accounts Committee and the Committee on Public Undertakings are smaller and drawn from both Houses. This numerical comparison clearly confirms that the Estimates Committee is the largest.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

The Public Accounts Committee is important for examining the audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General but does not have as many members as the Estimates Committee.

The Committee on Public Undertakings focuses on central public enterprises, yet its membership is still lower than that of the Estimates Committee.

The Business Advisory Committee mainly allocates time and business of the House and does not have the largest membership.

The Committee on Petitions examines petitions from the public, but again it is not the largest committee in terms of the number of members.

Common Pitfalls:

A common mistake is to assume that the Public Accounts Committee must be the largest because it receives a lot of attention in current affairs. Another error is to confuse importance with size. Importance and size are not always the same. For this question, you must focus only on numerical strength, and in that respect the Estimates Committee clearly stands out as the largest.

Final Answer:

The largest committee of the Parliament of India in terms of membership is the Estimates Committee.